Sean Penn
Acting
Sean Justin Penn (born August 17, 1960) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for his intense leading man roles in film. His accolades include three Academy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and nominations for three British Academy Film Awards, an Emmy Award, and a Grammy Award. He received the Honorary César in 2015 and the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award in 2022. Penn made his feature film debut in the drama Taps (1981), before taking roles in Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982), Bad Boys (1983), and At Close Range (1986). He has won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice, for playing a grieving father in Mystic River (2003) and the gay rights activist Harvey Milk in Milk (2008). He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for playing the ruthless military officer Colonel Steven J. Lockjaw in One Battle After Another (2025). He was Oscar-nominated for Dead Man Walking (1995), Sweet and Lowdown (1999), and I Am Sam (2001). He also acted in Casualties of War (1989), State of Grace (1990), Carlito's Way (1993), The Game(1997), The Thin Red Line (1998), Hurlyburly (1998), 21 Grams (2003), Fair Game (2010), The Tree of Life (2011), Licorice Pizza (2021) and Daddio (2023). Penn made his directorial film debut with the crime drama The Indian Runner (1991), followed by The Crossing Guard (1995), The Pledge (2001), and Into the Wild (2007). On stage, he acted in the Broadway plays Heartland (1981) and Slab Boys (1983). On television, he portrayed an astronaut in the Hulu drama series The First (2018) and John N. Mitchell in the Starz political thriller miniseries Gaslit (2022). Penn has also engaged in political and social activism, including his criticism of the George W. Bush administration, his contact with the presidents of Cuba and Venezuela, his humanitarian work in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the 2010 Haiti earthquake, and his support for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy amidst the Russian-Ukrainian war. Description above from the Wikipedia article Sean Penn, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
TV Shows(34)
Variety & CNN Actors on Actors
Self
2025
aka Charlie Sheen
Self
2025
Everybody's Live with John Mulaney
Self - Actor and Founder of CORE
2025
Gaslit
John Mitchell
2022
Lights Out with David Spade
Self
2019
The First
Tom Haggerty
2018
Firing Line with Margaret Hoover
2018
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Self
2015
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
Self - Guest
2014
Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis
Self
2008
Brando: The Documentary
Self
2007
The Graham Norton Show
Self
2007
When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts
Self
2006
VH1 Rock Honors
2006
Iconoclasts
Self
2005
The Reichen Show
Self
2005
Viva La Bam
2003
Two and a Half Men
Sean Penn
2003
Celebrities Uncensored
Self
2003
Real Time with Bill Maher
Self
2003
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Self
2003
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Sean Penn
2000
The Early Show
Self
1999
Where Are They Now?
Self
1999
Family Guy
Sean Penn (voice)
1999
The View
Self
1997
Friends
Eric
1994
Inside the Actors Studio
Self
1994
The Larry Sanders Show
Sean Penn
1992
Saturday Night Live
Self - Host
1975
Little House on the Prairie
Boy (uncredited)
1974
aspekte
Self
1965
The Oscars
Self
1953
Golden Globe Awards
Self - Presenter
1944
Movies(108)
Animals in War
2025
In Thanks We Trust
Self
2025
One Battle After Another
Col. Steven J. Lockjaw
2025
Becoming Madonna
Self (archive footage)
2024
Bruce Springsteen – The America whisperer
Self : Actor, Director & Writer (Archive footage)
2024
Daddio
Clark
2024
BRATS
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
2024
Sean Penn, l'enfant terrible de l'Amérique
Self
2024
Asphalt City
Gene Rutkovsky
2024
Gonzo Girl
2023
Superpower
Self
2023
Licorice Pizza
Jack Holden
2021
Flag Day
John Vogel
2021
Citizen Penn
Himself
2020
Fast Times at Ridgemont High: A Virtual Table Read
Pizza Guy
2020
The Professor and the Madman
Dr. William Chester Minor
2019
Sound of Sun
Man
2017
Mad Hannans
2017
The Angry Birds Movie
Terence (voice)
2016
El Chapo & Sean Penn: Bungle in the Jungle
Self
2016
The Human Experiment
Narrator
2015
The Gunman
Jim Terrier
2015
Sweet Micky for President
Self
2015
Beaver Trilogy Part IV
Himself (archive footage)
2015
Return to the Wild: The Chris McCandless Story
Himself
2014
Holbrook/Twain: An American Odyssey
Self
2014
The Night That Changed America: A Grammy Salute to the Beatles
Self
2014
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
Sean O'Connell
2013
Gangster Squad
Mickey Cohen
2013
Americans
Commie
2012
Haiti Untold
2012
Woody Allen: A Documentary
Self
2011
This Must Be the Place
Cheyenne
2011
The Tree of Life
Jack
2011
Phil Ochs: There But for Fortune
Self
2011
I'm Still Here
Sean Penn (uncredited)
2010
Fair Game
Joseph Wilson
2010
The People Speak
Self
2009
Deflating the Elephant
Narrator
2009
Milk
Harvey Milk
2008
What Just Happened
Sean Penn
2008
Witch Hunt
Himself (Narrator)
2008
VH1 Rock Honors: The Who
Self
2008
War Made Easy
Narrator (Voice)
2007
Brando
Self
2007
Buy the Ticket, Take the Ride
Self
2006
All the King's Men
Willie Stark
2006
The Interpreter
Tobin Keller
2005
The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing
Self
2004
Jack Nicholson: The Joker Is Wild
Self(archive footage) (uncredited)
2004
Mystic River: Beneath the Surface
Self
2004
The Assassination of Richard Nixon
Samuel Bicke
2004
Dennis Hopper: The Decisive Moments
Self
2004
21 Grams: In Fragments
Self
2004
Mystic River: From Page to Screen
Self
2003
Mystic River
Jimmy Markum
2003
21 Grams
Paul Rivers
2003
Inside Björk
Self
2003
Pauly Shore Is Dead
Sean Penn
2003
Dennis Hopper: Create (or Die)
Self
2003
Bukowski: Born Into This
Self
2003
It's All About Love
Marciello
2003
This So-Called Disaster
Ray
2003
Rosy-Fingered Dawn: A Film on Terrence Malick
Self
2002
Searching for Debra Winger
Self (uncredited)
2002
Dogtown and Z-Boys
Narrator
2002
I Am Sam
Sam Dawson
2001
The Weight of Water
Thomas Janes
2001
A Constant Forge
Self
2000
Before Night Falls
Cuco Sanchez
2000
Beaver Trilogy
"Groovin' Larry" Huff
2000
Up at the Villa
Rowley Flint
2000
Reliving Our Fast Times at Ridgemont High
1999
Sweet and Lowdown
Emmet Ray
1999
Being John Malkovich
Sean Penn (uncredited)
1999
Hurlyburly
Eddie
1998
The Thin Red Line
1st Sgt. Edward Welsh
1998
Hugo Pool
Strange Hitchhiker
1997
Loved
Man on the Hill (Michael)
1997
U Turn
Bobby Cooper
1997
The Game
Conrad Van Orton
1997
She's So Lovely
Eddie Quinn
1997
Dead Man Walking
Matthew Poncelet
1995
Carlito's Way
David Kleinfeld
1993
The Last Party
Self
1993
Madonna: The Name of the Game
Self
1993
Cruise Control
1992
State of Grace
Terry
1990
Cool Blue
Phil the Plumber (uncredited)
1990
Casualties of War
Sgt. Tony Meserve
1989
We're No Angels
Jim
1989
Judgment in Berlin
Guenther X
1988
Colors
Danny McGavin
1988
Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam
(voice)
1987
Shanghai Surprise
Glendon Wasey
1986
At Close Range
Bradford 'Brad' Whitewood Jr.
1986
The Falcon and the Snowman
Daulton Lee
1985
Racing with the Moon
Henry 'Hopper' Nash
1984
Crackers
Dillard
1984
Risky Business
Passenger in Car (uncredited)
1983
Summerspell
Buddy
1983
Bad Boys
Mick O'Brien
1983
Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Jeff Spicoli
1982
Taps
Cadet Captain Alex Dwyer
1981
The Beaver Kid 2
Groovin' Larry
1981
The Killing of Randy Webster
Don Fremont
1981
Hellinger's Law
Bit Part (uncredited)
1981
Robbie Robertson: A Retrospective - From the Band to the Rock'n'Roll Hall Of Fame
Himself